Tomorrow is Day One of our fully booked Easter Week of Wonderful Things and we are all looking forward to the two themes to the day and to launching our new Young and Youth Volunteer program!
Our first theme is a Forest Day facilitated by Newground (see our partners page) who have planned lots of fabulous activities in the environmental area belonging to St Mary's CE Primary School, Rawtenstall. We are delighted to be working with Newground again. Dan McDermott, Education & Training Manager at Newground, has helped St Mary's in restoring the area next to the school into what it is today. It is now used by all pupils at St Mary's, toddlers and pre-schoolers at the Wonderful Little Things forest pre-school group and by local nurseries for forest sessions. So, our first thank you goes to Dan, for his thorough approach to planning and running activities for us.
We are also holding a TV/Media Day for 7-11 year olds. The first part of the day will involve round the table discussions about many different written media. We will cover marketing, design, the inclusion of advertising, headlines and content. The session will challenge the children to "brainstorm" and create a plan of what they consider to be a good publication. This part of the day will be run by St Mary's CE Primary staff helped by Tracey Sunderland of Scallywag Magazines in Rossendale and Hyndburn. Our second thank you goes to Tracey who will bring her experience of editing a family friendly local publication with her - it will be good for the children to meet the lady behind the magazine they bring home in their bags from school!
The second part of the TV/Media Day is being provided by another partner of the Wonderful Things project, Accrington & Rossendale College. A media/reporting activity has been organised with Ste Murphy, Team leader for Business and Media at the college. The children, in "TV Crew" t-shirts, will use the TV studio to deliver a news programme! The group, who will be accompanied by school staff and volunteers, should have a fascinating afternoon. So, another thank you goes to ACCROSS!
Finally, we must mention our new volunteers. As well as a number of new adult volunteers (from the parents of pupils at St Mary's CE Primary, local businesses and community) we are also delighted to be launching our Young and Youth Volunteer program. Monday will see five Young Volunteers and four Youth Volunteers supporting the project by undertaking age appropriate responsibilities. Their involvement will improve the experience at a Wonderful Things activity for the children who attend and take some of the pressure off the core staff who have been running the project during its first year. Young Volunteers are aged 10-11 and are children who know the school well or have attended numerous Wonderful Things activities in the past. Youth Volunteers are aged 12-18 and may be past attendees of activities, working towards a Duke of Edinburgh Award or looking into the possibility of a career in teaching/education. We will be welcoming Youth Volunteers from Alder Grange, BRGS and Haslingden High School. A thank you to all our volunteers - it will be a pleasure to work with you!
Our first theme is a Forest Day facilitated by Newground (see our partners page) who have planned lots of fabulous activities in the environmental area belonging to St Mary's CE Primary School, Rawtenstall. We are delighted to be working with Newground again. Dan McDermott, Education & Training Manager at Newground, has helped St Mary's in restoring the area next to the school into what it is today. It is now used by all pupils at St Mary's, toddlers and pre-schoolers at the Wonderful Little Things forest pre-school group and by local nurseries for forest sessions. So, our first thank you goes to Dan, for his thorough approach to planning and running activities for us.
We are also holding a TV/Media Day for 7-11 year olds. The first part of the day will involve round the table discussions about many different written media. We will cover marketing, design, the inclusion of advertising, headlines and content. The session will challenge the children to "brainstorm" and create a plan of what they consider to be a good publication. This part of the day will be run by St Mary's CE Primary staff helped by Tracey Sunderland of Scallywag Magazines in Rossendale and Hyndburn. Our second thank you goes to Tracey who will bring her experience of editing a family friendly local publication with her - it will be good for the children to meet the lady behind the magazine they bring home in their bags from school!
The second part of the TV/Media Day is being provided by another partner of the Wonderful Things project, Accrington & Rossendale College. A media/reporting activity has been organised with Ste Murphy, Team leader for Business and Media at the college. The children, in "TV Crew" t-shirts, will use the TV studio to deliver a news programme! The group, who will be accompanied by school staff and volunteers, should have a fascinating afternoon. So, another thank you goes to ACCROSS!
Finally, we must mention our new volunteers. As well as a number of new adult volunteers (from the parents of pupils at St Mary's CE Primary, local businesses and community) we are also delighted to be launching our Young and Youth Volunteer program. Monday will see five Young Volunteers and four Youth Volunteers supporting the project by undertaking age appropriate responsibilities. Their involvement will improve the experience at a Wonderful Things activity for the children who attend and take some of the pressure off the core staff who have been running the project during its first year. Young Volunteers are aged 10-11 and are children who know the school well or have attended numerous Wonderful Things activities in the past. Youth Volunteers are aged 12-18 and may be past attendees of activities, working towards a Duke of Edinburgh Award or looking into the possibility of a career in teaching/education. We will be welcoming Youth Volunteers from Alder Grange, BRGS and Haslingden High School. A thank you to all our volunteers - it will be a pleasure to work with you!